Afghanistan has fallen. All that remains is to see how bloody the aftermath is going to be. Ben Sasse (R-NE)
has blasted both the Trump and Biden administrations for what is starting to look like one of the most spectacular military defeats in US history. Some of that criticism is fair. But what he and others rushing to judgement are failing to note is that the seeds of this calamity were sown as far back as 2001 when we precipitously invaded a country on the other side of the world, with a longstanding nickname as the "graveyard of empires," with no clear long term objectives, no clear resolve to find and destroy our enemies whatever the cost or wherever they hid, and worst of all, no clear exit strategy. This was followed by eight years of government by the other party whose principle objective appears to have been to not have it all come crashing down on their watch. Then comes Mr. Trump whose, for a change, correct instinct was that it was time to get the hell out, but then proceeds to sign a deal with the Taliban that looks and smells like unconditional surrender, setting a May deadline for our exit. So yeah, Biden got stuck holding the bag. But that doesn't let him off the hook for failing to plan for an orderly withdrawal.
The ugly truth is that this country has not fought a war with the intention of winning since 1945. And IMHO if winning a war is not your objective, and/or you are not ready to do whatever is needed to secure total victory as quickly and decisively as possible, then you really should not be playing that particular game.
4 comments:
That is always the fruit of nations thinking that one is superior over another and has immunity from regular debacles in foreign policy. The chickens have indeed come home to roost. My heart goes out to those men and woman who have to fight these battles for inept politicians.
Sadly, we learned nothing whatsoever from our misadventure in Korea. At least South Korea still exists as a viable state, but we did not succeed in neutralizing either the NKs or the CCP. Vietnam should have taught us the strength of simple patriotism. The Russians were not motivated by communism, but by a visceral hatred of the Germans. (Napoleon's misadventure did not help.) The Vietnamese had had enough of both the French and of us. The Afghans seem to be not very interested in foreign ideas of morals or ethics.
But it is sad that the so-called government in Kabul seems to care less what going to happen to their wives & daughters.
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
and the women come out to cut up what remains,
jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
and go to your gawd like a soldier. - Joseph Rudyard Kipling
LOL. Of course Sasse has to take his swipes at the first President to attempt to deal with the can he and his colleagues and previous administrations have been kicking down the road for 20 years.
The Taliban clearly have their nation's mandate. By contrast, not a single soldier of the democratically elected Kabul government was willing to fight to keep it in power.
Mr. Sasse has just been taught a hard lesson even though he doesn't know it: elections do not necessarily confer legitimacy, and nationalists fight while internationalists flee.
These are exciting and clarifying times.
Post a Comment